Big Brother in YOUR house!

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Big Brother's in the House Reuters
Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,60373,00.html

09:02 AM Sep. 10, 2003 PT

Big Brother technology that already allows people to be tracked through their mobile phones could soon be installed in household objects, tipping off police if they are stolen.

Televisions, DVD players and computers could be fitted with microchips identifying their location and their normal proximity to each other, automatically alerting police if they change unexpectedly, according to a scientist on Wednesday.

"We haven't yet proved the technology will do it, but we are confident it will," said Nigel Linge, a professor at Britain's Center for Networking Telecommunications Research.

He said a police-monitored pilot project testing the hybrid wireless and mobile phone technology should be up and running within six months in the northern English city of Manchester.

The technology could probably locate a tagged machine down to the nearest meter, Linge said.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Linge said there were even talks about installing global positioning technology in cars that could regulate speed.

"If you are in a 30-miles-an-hour zone, the system would automatically prevent the car going over that speed," Linge said.

Linge said he was well aware of the potential implication for civil liberties of the intrusive potential of the new technology, but at present he was focusing only on the technical aspects.

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I think this has to be one of the most rediculous things I've ever heard! Who the hell would put a tracking system on a device that costs only $100-200!? What if I decided that I wanted to watch a dvd at my buddies... but he doesn't have a dvd player. So... I bring mine and the cops show up without bringing the popcorn?!

I can see the technology being useful for cars (low jack) and such... but come on now.

Isn't that what home owners/renters insurance is for?

And as for the car system. That is even more crazy! Do you know how much money the states will loose from speeding tickets and how much they'd have to raise taxes to compensate.

If they were going to put any monitoring system in a car... it should require you to take a breathalyzer test before the car can be started... not regulate how fast you can go. They aready have "black boxes" and speed controllers in cars which people have been ripping out and installing chips to disable these systems. What is to stop people from doing the same thing with this?

I read an article in Machine Design awile back that was about the tracking devices in stores such as walmart. You know the little plastic pieces on dvds & such that they have to deactivate? The next generation of these devices wouldn't simply be demagnatized by the register, they would simply be deactivated, and could be reactivated if scanned again. The advantages of this was if someone bought a product, then returned it, the security would already be there.

On top of this the little devices were getting so sophisticated that they could be used as a sort of live inventory of what stores had available.

Another one of their advantages were their price. They are getting so cheap that many manufacturers are actually inputing the devices inside the box instead of on the outside. Buy a new dvd now & i'll bet there is one on the inside.

All this babbling is from memory so i dont know exact specifics, but this technology cannot be far from what the GPS technology is working on.

And if they are going to be mass produced, they too will decline in price and be more popular.

I can see advantages and disadvantages of this, but i too disagree with some of the issues.

Freaky deaky eh?

I believe what you are talking about is RFID tags. Walmart did put them in, but shortly removed them from the shelves . They want to use the in warehouses... not in the stores. Just for the testing. (The last time I read about it).

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RFID Chips Are Here
By Scott Granneman
Posted: 27/06/2003 at 13:17 GMT

Bar codes are something most of us never think about. We go to the grocery store to buy dog food, the checkout person runs our selection over the scanner, there's an audible beep or boop, and then we're told how much money we owe. Bar codes in that sense are an invisible technology that we see all the time, but without thinking about what's in front of our eyes.

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http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/31461.html

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Starting this week, the nation's largest discount retailer will quietly begin selling tracking-chipped products to clueless shoppers. The first volley in their war against our privacy is set to start at their Brockton, Massachusetts store.

Wal-Mart will put Radio Frequency I.D. sensors on shelves stocked with RFID-tagged Gillette products, but they'd rather you didn't know about it, because, hey, you might not like it, and then you might make noise and then they'd have a big PR mess on their hands.

You might even stop buying Gillette products or, say, refuse to shop at Wal-Mart.

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http://auctionknowhow.com/articles/wmart.shtml

I have to say... since I have read about this... I have stopped shopping at walmart...
I'm all about privacy... what little privacy we have left. Soon we will have none left... :(

That is pretty insane to have all your household items tagged and if moved too far they set off an alarm. What about if you sell off something to get some cash for whatever reason, Im sure that would also create a snag in the system. As for speed control regarding cars, that is just insane, and poses a huge safety risk. Take for instance your in a 20mph area in a town, and some crazy freak (or a fire truck) is barreling down on you, only doing 20 to get out of the way might not be enough if the nearest space to get off the road is like 1000+ feet away. There already are governors in most 03 and up cars, why would people want yet another thing to take away their control of the car? As for the BAC detection system, thats actually a pretty good idea, and some states are employing it in cars for people who have been conviced of drunk driving as part of a probation system.

I wonder what would happen if you move and dont tell them. ;) They would think you whole house was robbed.

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Originally posted here by CXGJarrod
I wonder what would happen if you move and dont tell them. ;) They would think you whole house was robbed.

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That'd be pretty interesting.

Driving down the interstate, you see a whole team of SWAT roll up on two moving trucks, shoot out the tires, and cause a 25 car pile up all because of some stupid chips.

Lmao! Moving day would suck even worse! I'd move like daily just to piss everyone off. I'd be taking like every digital thing I had to work every day.... They'd probably bring some kind of court charges against me for "harrassment" or something... Wouldn't that be fun?

phishphreek, where I live, Pinellas county, Florida. Anyone who gets a DUI supposively has to have a breathalyzer installed as an ignition lockout. If you're drunk, it won't start.

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Originally posted here by D0pp139an93r
phishphreek, where I live, Pinellas county, Florida. Anyone who gets a DUI supposively has to have a breathalyzer installed as an ignition lockout. If you're drunk, it won't start.

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D0pp139an93r:
Sweet! Thats what we need here. I live near a college that is in the top 10 for partying and there are tons of DUIs each week. Several major accidents. They really need to be doing that up here. If that were in place... I might not have lost a couple of friends due to drunk driving...

Does it lockout at a certain BAC? Or, can you still have a drink or two with dinner? I won't drive after 2 beverages... and thats including 1-2hrs of dinner time, or chillin out.

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Originally posted here by phishphreek80

D0pp139an93r:
Sweet! Thats what we need here. I live near a college that is in the top 10 for partying and there are tons of DUIs each week. Several major accidents. They really need to be doing that up here. If that were in place... I might not have lost a couple of friends due to drunk driving...

Does it lockout at a certain BAC? Or, can you still have a drink or two with dinner? I won't drive after 2 beverages... and thats including 1-2hrs of dinner time, or chillin out.

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The ones in California are supposed to not let you drink at all. But there were always news stories of drunks paying someone sober to breathe into the breathalizer so they could get home.

I have seen software that loads and hides on your computer........If you do not change it, and it attempts an access to the internet via a different telephone number, it will call you on your home phone) and tell you the new number, and you call the cops.

The rest is quite technically possible, and is already being used on motor vehicles.........it costs money though?

We all know that quality is being sacrificed for price/cost so what manufacturer will include this other than an optional extra.

Another thought.............how do you tell the device that it is now "home"?, and what if you don't bother?.........is this Gates trying to justify his XP security crap.........costs me a phone call every time I have to re-install :D

Just a few thoughts

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Originally posted here by CXGJarrod


The ones in California are supposed to not let you drink at all. But there were always news stories of drunks paying someone sober to breathe into the breathalizer so they could get home.

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See, that would kind of suck for the people who don't abuse it. If my house is 10 miles from my house and I have a couple of drinks (1 or 2) and given enough time(1-2hrs), I won't feel the buzz or have the BAC to be legally under the influence.

On campus the limit is .06 everywhere else, it is .10. I'm not sure of the difference though. 2 drinks could make you over the limit depending on your body weight, and food in stomach and etc.

nihil: I have heard about the phone home software for stolen laptops. Pretty nifty stuff.

The lowjack system for a car does cost quite a bit of money though. Insurance will cover the car... they just don't cover after market. So... if you have a phatty system or after market rims, or a body kit... it may be worth it to have the low jack system. Just hopefully they can locate it in time to before all your parts are ripped off.

I know of someone who had the system on their car because of how much $$ they put into aftermarket stuff. Rims, system, body kit, the whole shabang. The cops couldn't locate the car and never did. Insurance would only cover the car, and he lost the rest of the $$ for aftermarket.

With his new car... he just got a removable stearing wheel. Takes it off everytime he gets out of his car. Looks pretty goofy walking down the street with that hanging off his backpack.

I think this technology could work if they did two things
1. you had to call the cops if you see that something is stolen.
2. If the device didn't work without the tracking chip.

Man **** putting that in cars. They think people speed to be syupid all the time. My best friend was doing 30 over the speed limit once taking someone to the ER. That chip wouldv prolly killed whoever it was, they couldnt call an ambulance and driving him there was the only way. With that chip they wouldnt have made it on time.

And theres no way Id wanna drive a car that wouldnt let me control anything. **** how they gunna know what road and speed limit is there anyway? Heh this would be great fun during construction on the freeways, anyone in Michigan knows the roads are always torn up, you could speed threw the slow zone and blame that you car did it on its own. I figure after 2 or 3 construction guys get whacked down theyd remove the damned things.

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Originally posted here by gore
Man **** putting that in cars. They think people speed to be syupid all the time. My best friend was doing 30 over the speed limit once taking someone to the ER. That chip wouldv prolly killed whoever it was, they couldnt call an ambulance and driving him there was the only way. With that chip they wouldnt have made it on time.

And theres no way Id wanna drive a car that wouldnt let me control anything. **** how they gunna know what road and speed limit is there anyway? Heh this would be great fun during construction on the freeways, anyone in Michigan knows the roads are always torn up, you could speed threw the slow zone and blame that you car did it on its own. I figure after 2 or 3 construction guys get whacked down theyd remove the damned things.

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They do put those GPS devices in some rental cars. They will automatically bill your account when you drive over the speed limit.

Edit: Here is the link to that story: http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,45163,00.html

ok i can see these chips being used to control inventory and such. they can be made in some third world nation and we could put a very large number of inventory control and warehouse people out of work that way...but outside of that its technology for technologies sake and should be kept in a lab somewhere under lock and key. then shoot the person that knows where the key is. why even bother to own something if its going to cause you so much worry. you know its just going to wind up tracking us all. the new market research tools would be in vans much like the neilson guys have. they'll catolog everthing you own so as better to serve you, this could add volumes to the NSA's total information awareness system.

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Originally posted here by phishphreek80
I believe what you are talking about is RFID tags. Walmart did put them in, but shortly removed them from the shelves . They want to use the in warehouses... not in the stores. Just for the testing. (The last time I read about it).



http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/31461.html



http://auctionknowhow.com/articles/wmart.shtml

I have to say... since I have read about this... I have stopped shopping at walmart...
I'm all about privacy... what little privacy we have left. Soon we will have none left... :(

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Sorry it took me awile to respond. I couldn't remember what the tags were called but the RFID sounds correct, mind you its been over a year since i read this article. And when this was in the article it was just in testing stages, but the cheaper tags and the tags that could be activated and deactivated were starting to be produced.

Unfortunately i dont have the magazine with me where i live now or i would dig it up and provide some reference. But from what i remember i dont think it was used for tracking consumer purchases, or for where products were located at, however with the technology with little application it would be easy to do.

Another thing this technology was supposively great for was dishonest store clerks. Apparently there is a way that some clerks can pass a product over the scanner without scanning it, but deactivating the tag, thus getting free merchandise and this was to be the end all for that due to the deactivation.

I might have got off topic with the RFID tags but i thought it would be an interesting tidbit into the conversation!

Have a great day!

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Originally posted here by gore
Man **** putting that in cars. They think people speed to be syupid all the time. My best friend was doing 30 over the speed limit once taking someone to the ER. That chip wouldv prolly killed whoever it was, they couldnt call an ambulance and driving him there was the only way. With that chip they wouldnt have made it on time.

And theres no way Id wanna drive a car that wouldnt let me control anything. **** how they gunna know what road and speed limit is there anyway? Heh this would be great fun during construction on the freeways, anyone in Michigan knows the roads are always torn up, you could speed threw the slow zone and blame that you car did it on its own. I figure after 2 or 3 construction guys get whacked down theyd remove the damned things.

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Lol, that's probably not really supposed to be funny but it is! I laugh every time I see stuff like this because it shows how people just don't think. Technology comes out faster than people know what to do with it, and this is a good example of a bad possibility of what could happen if we don't stop to think stuff through. Lmao, can you imagine being in a car that you have no control over when you just mow some poor road guy down? That would seriously suck....

Hell yea its meant to be funny. Id be laughing in the court room while they tried getting me for trying vehicular manslaughter, and when they asked why I was laughing, Id point out that "I had no control over the car because your more worried about people speeding than dying.

I think this kinda **** is why I was only in a court room once, for about 10 minutes. They got tired of me quick because I'm not stupid and wouldnt bend over for them. Personally when I drive, I actually know how to drive fast AND safe. Most people speeding dont realize that when your going 100 MPH, you do NOT need to turn the wheel as much to switch lanes as when your doing for example 50 MPH.

Half the time I'm driving, the closest I get to hitting a car is when Im looking to make sure Im doing the speed limit, ****ing bastard cops, Id prolly never have a close call if I was alloud to just speed. Looking down at the ****ing thing to see how fast I'm going when I do WAY better just driving and watching the road. Why did we let people this ****ing stupid get power?